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Helping people find Jesus…

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…is something EVERY Jesus-follower should wind up doing. I don’t like the word “evangelist” sometimes because it implies that only certain people do this stuff. Yes, some people are better at it than others, but helping people come to know Jesus is something EVERY Jesus-follower does or will do. So here are 10 simple steps to becoming a better Jesus-finder-helper evangelist-like person:

Step 1: Chilax. Making believers is not something YOU can do, it’s something God does. But you DO have a part in it – which is confusing. Just the way Moses parted the sea, even though it was something Moses could not do – it was something God did, but insisted on using Moses for it… In the same way God wants to use YOU to help your friends know him. So the first thing you need to know is: it’s not you. There’s nothing you can say or do – it has to be God doing the stuff – so you can chill and relax (chilax).

Step 2: Believe this is true. Jesus is real. The Gospel message is real. Anyone who isn’t totally insane should want to accept it once they have all the facts straight… You don’t need to shove things down people’s throats (see Step 1). If someone thinks the world is flat, you can kindly disagree but you don’t have to get all high and mighty on them. Eventually, if they trust you enough, they can go find out for themselves… which is often what happens. But before you say or do anything you have to get it straight in your own mind: Christianity isn’t something you “chose” any more than you “chose” to believe the earth is round… It’s true.

Step 3: See the goodness of Jesus. If Jesus is real, which he is, then any sane person who knew him would want to follow him… He’s that great. You don’t have to coax anyone to come get some Jesus… Instead you need to have the right faith and attitude toward Jesus in your own heart: “Why would anyone NOT want to follow Jesus once they knew and understood all the facts?”

Step 4: Educate, don’t “sell.” Getting people to trust and accept and believe in Jesus is God’s job… But one crucial role you must play is to help in educating people about Jesus and Christianity. Traditional “evangelism” stressed getting people to “accept” Christianity. But how can anyone accept something if they don’t know what the heck it is they’re accepting? All your non-Christian friends know about Christianity is what they hear on TV…usually the bad stuff, the scandals, the abuses, the poor practitioners… It’s up to you to help them know what Jesus is all about… it’s like: before you can accept and run a program, you need to download it first… Education is the downloading of information – so that your friends can then decide for themselves…

Step 5: Be a bringer and a connector. You might not be able to do all the educating yourself. That’s okay – no one person knows everything. But just the way if you were trying to get your friends to use a new techie device – and might forward them a news article about it – connecting them to information you don’t have… in the same way you can help with your friend’s understanding about Jesus by pointing them to books, websites, sermons, church services, small group Bible studies, etc…

Step 6: Be a good example. You don’t need to be perfect – actually, it’s much better if you’re not… If you screw up as much as they do, then there’s nothing wrong with that. Our message is that we’re SINNERS…flawed people… who are saved by grace, so there’s no need to hide our broken parts. But – you should also try to be a decent example of the “saved by grace” part of the faith by being QUICK to repent, quick to admit fault, quick to ask forgiveness…

Step 7: Be you. It’s good to be you, and not try to be someone else. Chances are that your friends like you because you’re like YOU. And by being “you” and at the same time being openly Christian – you give your friends something that no one else can give… Plausibility. The only Christian characters in movies and media tend to be extremists and hypocrites… Sometimes we see Christians in far away places or different cultures. All that makes your non-Christian friend think: that’s fine for them, but it makes no sense for me. You being Christian tells your friend, “normal” people need Jesus too. People like you.

Step 8: Love your friends. The Gospel tells us that God loves us. If you’re a half arsed friend who doesn’t really care about him/her – then your character will contradict Jesus’ message… If God loves them, so should you. So be good to them. Also, love your Christian brothers/sisters and keep them close. The best stuff in our lives are things we wind up doing together… Don’t bad mouth other people (especially other believers) to your friend (or ever!)- it outright contradicts some of the love and forgiveness Jesus-stuff you’re trying to put forward…

Step 9: Be a little philosophical. It’s okay to talk about things having to do with God “philosophically…” Saying “what IF…” Even if the “what if” is something you don’t believe is true. Because this is exactly what you’re asking your friend to do: to consider what-if scenarios having to do with God and eternity that your friend doesn’t yet believe is true…

Step 10: Be patient. Duh. I took YEARS to become a Christian. I had read the Bible from cover to cover twice before it happened. God was also probably patient with you too… so we ought to be patient too.

2 thoughts on “Helping people find Jesus…”

can you suggest something I could do to help others I like to make things. Especially for children. I want to be a shining light because I never want to forget where I came from and who I will one day answer to.

Hey Bernadette! I guess the main thing is to make friends with people around you. And as you do you can look for things people need that line up with things you like to do… Will this lead people to Jesus? Not directly, but it will go towards loving God and loving your neighbor. Do that well and I think you’ll have plenty of opps to share your faith and help people know Jesus. Cheers!